Hardy Boys Adventures #4 Into Thin Air

[MacGyver]

Hey- I think I may have found the title of the 4th. book in the Hardy Boys Adventures series!!!
I just saw that Amazon.com has a listing for a bundle of HBA books- it looks like Simon & Schuster is doing a bundle set of books 1-4 like they did with the Undercover Brothers series.
The titles listed on the page are: Secret of the Red Arrow, Mystery of the Phantom Heist, The Vanishing Game and Into Thin Air- so it may be something else, I suppose- but it seems likely that this last one is the title of the 4th. book in the series. Judging by the names and the plot description given already for the third book, it seems likely that books three and four are connected in storylines, like the first and second book are. I'm starting to get the impression that maybe this will be the standard going forward- like how the UB series gave us trilogies towards the latter end of the series, maybe this new HBA series will be doing 2-part mysteries throughout the series' run. (Which would also explain why two books were released at a time for the start of the series. I thought at first that it was just for the kickoff of the series, but now I'm thinking maybe this will be the norm for the run of the series. I guess we'll have to see if both books 3 and 4 also wind up having the same release date.)

[MacGyver]

By the way, that book bundle is scheduled to release on November 12, 2013. I'm guessing it will probably have a box set for all 4 books. That will be a nice collectible, and it will be great to give as a Christmas gift or other holidays, etc., as it's a great starter set for new fans.

[MacGyver]

I'm starting to get the impression that maybe this will be the standard going forward- like how the UB series gave us trilogies towards the latter end of the series, maybe this new HBA series will be doing 2-part mysteries throughout the series' run. (Which would also explain why two books were released at a time for the start of the series. I thought at first that it was just for the kickoff of the series, but now I'm thinking maybe this will be the norm for the run of the series. I guess we'll have to see if both books 3 and 4 also wind up having the same release date.)

Well, I guess that kills that theory. I'm still thinking that we may be seeing 2-part stories throughout the series' run, but I don't guess the two connected books will be released on the same date. Book #3 The Vanishing Game is scheduled to release on June 4, 2013, but book #4 Into Thin Air is not scheduled for release until October 22, 2013.
            With a bundle set of the first four books releasing November 12, 2013- I'm doubtful that any more books will get released for the series before the end of the year. So that means we have four releases for the series in its first year- that's not too bad. Still a lot better than the UB release records for the last year or two of its run. I think maybe S&S is just trying to be cautious now in its releases and see how the series does before running it full steam- which seems to make sense with a series that is trying to revive interest in The Hardy Boys after things kinda ran into the ground with the Undercover Brothers books.
It was definitely nice to have the series start off with a bang with the first two books getting released on the same day though. And it looks like this year we are getting books at a little over three months time span interval. It will be interesting to see how things pick up steam by next year and if we get back to a steady release rate like what the Casefiles and Digests had at one point where we could expect a new book every month or at least every other month or so.
     

[Judah-Ben-Hur]

^ I wonder if that's also a quality issue? One of my complaints have always been that the UB came out so often that the series was suffering from the inability for the ghost writers to catch up with themselves. Trilogies with books written by  seemingly different authors, who aren't always on the same page as one another, and the continuity issues. Maybe this was more noticeable with the Girl Detective series, where Nancy travels to (I think it's Costa Rica ) for "The First time" in three separate books, among other things. The longer periods allow for more time and research, and considering we'll probably have more than one writer , this will probably be a good thing.

What I'm dying to know is if there will be a box set for Nancy Drew, and will it be hardback?

[SkyWarp]

...One of my complaints have always been that the UB came out so often that the series was suffering from the inability for the ghost writers to catch up with themselves....

The Casefiles came out monthly for most of their run.  I do not think having a book every month does anything to the quality. 

If you only have a couple authors, or the authors are all new and just starting to write for children's series books, then I could see a problem.  My guess is they aren't paying enough to get really great authors, but then, the style of writing they want may be chasing good authors away too. 

[MacGyver]

I'm starting to get the impression that maybe this will be the standard going forward- like how the UB series gave us trilogies towards the latter end of the series, maybe this new HBA series will be doing 2-part mysteries throughout the series' run. (Which would also explain why two books were released at a time for the start of the series. I thought at first that it was just for the kickoff of the series, but now I'm thinking maybe this will be the norm for the run of the series. I guess we'll have to see if both books 3 and 4 also wind up having the same release date.)


Well, I guess that kills that theory. I'm still thinking that we may be seeing 2-part stories throughout the series' run, but I don't guess the two connected books will be released on the same date. Book #3 The Vanishing Game is scheduled to release on June 4, 2013, but book #4 Into Thin Air is not scheduled for release until October 22, 2013.
            With a bundle set of the first four books releasing November 12, 2013- I'm doubtful that any more books will get released for the series before the end of the year. So that means we have four releases for the series in its first year- that's not too bad. Still a lot better than the UB release records for the last year or two of its run. I think maybe S&S is just trying to be cautious now in its releases and see how the series does before running it full steam- which seems to make sense with a series that is trying to revive interest in The Hardy Boys after things kinda ran into the ground with the Undercover Brothers books.
It was definitely nice to have the series start off with a bang with the first two books getting released on the same day though. And it looks like this year we are getting books at a little over three months time span interval. It will be interesting to see how things pick up steam by next year and if we get back to a steady release rate like what the Casefiles and Digests had at one point where we could expect a new book every month or at least every other month or so.
     

Remember what I was saying about all this up here?
Well, the "Hardy Boys Adventures" series may not be publishing in that 2 on the same day pace, but it looks the "Nancy Drew Diaries" series might be doing that. The next two titles, Mystery of the Midnight Rider, and Once Upon A Thriller are both scheduled for release on May 7, 2013. Interesting......

[Lungbarrow]

Once Upon a Thriller has now changed to September.
The release dates for year 1 of these two series now stand at:

February 5th:
Nancy Drew Diaries 1: Curse of the Arctic Star
Nancy Drew Diaries 2: Strangers on a Train
Hardy Boys Adventures 1: Secret of the Red Arrow
Hardy Boys Adventures 2: Mystery of the Phantom Heist

May 7th:
Nancy Drew Diaries 3: Mystery of the Midnight Rider

June 4th:
Hardy Boys Adventures 3: The Vanishing Game

September 24th:
Nancy Drew Diaries 4: Once Upon a Thriller

October 22nd:
Hardy Boys Adventures 4: Into Thin Air

If I was trying to read a pattern into that, I'd say we'll get one release every four months with the Hardy Boys Adventures release one month after the Nancy Drew Diaries one. I suspect the Hardy Boys Secret Files and Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew ones will take up the remaining months of the year giving one Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew release a month... and a quick look at amazon confirms this!

I suspect we'll see releases in this format in future:

Nancy Drew Diaries: January, May, September
Hardy Boys Adventures: February, June, October
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew: March, July, November
The Hardy Boys Secret Files: April, August, December

Disclaimer: all of the above is speculation! I know there are people in the book trade who have knowledge like this in advance but I'm not one of them, I'm just extrapolating from Amazon entries.

[MacGyver]

Thanks for the update, Lungbarrow. And your speculation sounds pretty sound. We'll just have to see how it plays out, but if it works out to be a schedule like that, I think that would be pretty comfortable for me.

[Bigfootman]

Plot summery from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Into-Thin-Hardy-Boys-Adventures/dp/1442459832/ref=pd_sim_b_7
"When the daughter of an amusement-park owner goes missing, it?s anything but fun and games in this Hardy Boys adventure?a new take on the classic series.
Daisy Rodriguez is missing. Just like that, gone without a trace. Her father, Hector Rodriguez?owner of Funspot, Bayport?s local amusement park?is frantic. He feels he?s to blame, since Funspot was recently the location of another disappearance. Could Daisy?s vanishing be somehow connected? Joe and Frank Hardy figured out the first Funspot mystery and are up to their necks in this one, too. Daisy doesn?t seem to have an enemy in the world; no one has a bad word to say about her. So who in Bayport wants this girl gone?"

[tomswift2002]

Don't tell me that they are hitting the multi-part story arc button again!  It sounds like the story arc from #79 Sky Sabotage and #85 "The Skyfire Puzzle, but that arc had a few stand-alones in between.

[MacGyver]

Thanks for the update on the plot summary, Dan.

[MacGyver]

The cover art for the boxed set of the first 4 books is now available at Amazon's site.
It uses the cover art from the first book for at least one side of the box. Looks pretty cool!

Also, the cover art for the fourth title, Into Thin Air, is now up on Amazon.com as well.
I like the cover art- it's a pretty classic scenario that the Hardy Boys have run into a number of times in their adventures and mysteries.

[tomswift2002]

Haven't seen a cover like Thin Air's since the early 90's!  Nice!

[kosmicdust]

Into Thin Air:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61xmOyfMcYL._SL1000_.jpg

1-4 Boxed Set:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Y2ID18wjL._SL1000_.jpg

[MacGyver]

I hope the stories will incorporate as many classic Hardy Boys elements as the covers have been as of recent. You can really see how they seem to be taking inspiration from earlier covers from the original series.